Baltimore and Schull in west Cork are the latest harbours to become embroiled in coastal development controversy, with plans for both arousing environmental objections.
Cork County Council's support for a £4 million breakwater in Baltimore, which would provide more shelter for fishing vessels and ferries and allow for construction of a marina, has been queried by the Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE).
In Schull an application to construct a 17-bed hotel and marina has been turned down by the county council, but has been appealed to An Bord Pleanala.
On the east coast, the £18 million Dun Laoghaire marina saga has taken another twist, with a dispute over public access.
The Friends of the Irish Environment maintain that the Baltimore breakwater project would require an environmental impact assessment (EIA). A planning application for the project has been made by the local authority. This follows a recommendation by D.J. Fitzgibbon and Associates, consulting engineers, in the 1997 Baltimore Harbour draft development plan.
A Government consultancy review of State ports and harbours, published last year by the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources, also highlighted the major congestion around the village's two piers and inner harbour, as a result of the demands placed by fishing vessels, ferry services to nearby islands and to Schull, and by leisure interests including sailing schools, diving enterprises and angling boats.
Mr Kieran Cotter, coxswain of the Baltimore lifeboat and member of Baltimore Harbour Commissioners, said that the development was badly required to provide shelter for the ferries and the fishing fleet, which comprises 10 trawlers and 10 to 12 inshore vessels, with annual landings of almost £1 million.
Most of the village was in favour of the development, which would allow for a marina on completion, and the construction would not cause a navigational hazard, he said. Mr Dermot McSweeney, secretary of the Baltimore Fishermen's Association, said that his members fully supported the proposal.
Mr Cotter said it was hoped that the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources would fund 50 per cent of the scheme, with 25 per cent each from the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands and Cork County Council.
In a solicitor's letter to Cork County Council, FIE says it has inquired of Baltimore Harbour Commissioners, and of the three bodies involved in funding the project, and has not been able to determine whether an EIA has been carried out. It refers to the 1997 Fitzgibbon report, which said that a detailed examination would be required, including a hydrographic survey of the approach channel, soil investigation, a wave/siltation study and an EIA, at a total cost of over £700,000.
The Department of the Marine and Natural Resources told The Irish Times that an EIA would not be required in its view, as the project was too small. However, this has also been queried under the relevant EU directive by the FIE.
In Schull a scheme for a 17-bed hotel and marina is still with An Bord Pleanala, following refusal of permission to the German backer last February. Cork County Council's planning department turned down the proposal for Colla Road, Schull, on three grounds. These were: its scale, which was not considered "substantial" enough for a high-quality site under the county development plan; the proximity to a community hospital, the impact of noise and disturbance emanating from a hotel and car-park; and the unsatisfactory design in a prominent location, which it regarded as unduly obtrusive.
Last year residents at the West Cork harbour of Union Hall were successful in their objections to a proposed development, which would have included an apartment complex and 100-berth marina, when the county council refused permission.
The £18 million State-funded marina at Dun Laoghaire is continuing to attract controversy, even though it was the subject of a lengthy planning procedure dating back the best part of a decade. Fears have been expressed about restrictions on public access, following the decision of Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company to hand over management of the Coal Harbour public boatyard to the company awarded the marina contract.
However, the company, Marina Management and Marketing, has invited the objectors, the Coal Harbour Users' Group, to contact it with a view to discussing the issue.
